[JURIST] Approximately 50 British soldiers are facing court martial [UK MOD backgrounder] for murder, manslaughter, assault and other crimes in Iraq. The allegations against them are contained in secret military documents obtained by London's Sunday Telegraph [article, registration required]. The documents show that almost 3 times the number of soldiers face charges than has been admitted by the British Ministry of Defence, including 2 cases where Iraqi civilians were drowned by members of the SAS, the elite Special Air Services. On Friday, a military judge in Germany sentenced 3 British soldiers to prison [UK MOD press release; JURIST report] for abusing Iraqi civilians, prompting a formal apology by the General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the British General Staff. A senior government lawyer has raised concerns about the government's ability to investigate allegations against soldiers. The Guardian has background on the latest prosecutions.

[JURIST] A new World Health Organization-sponsored treaty aimed at preventing children from smoking and helping adults quit goes into effect Sunday [World Health Organization press release], but its impact on the US remains to be seen. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [NGO treaty advocacy website; official treaty text] gives members three years to require strong health warnings on tobacco products and five years to ban advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. But the treaty is only legally binding in the 57 countries that have ratified it [FCTC list of signatories and ratifiers]. The US has signed but not ratified the treaty, and the tobacco industry is trying to persuade the Senate not to ratify. As yet, the treaty has not been transmitted to it for approval. VOA has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi security forces say they have arrested Saddam Hussein's half-brother [AP report], the first top-level Baathist to be caught in a year. Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan was number 36 (6 of diamonds) on the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis [USA Today cards graphic], and the US government had a $1 million bounty on his head. It was unknown if any US soldiers took part in the capture. Government officials believe al-Hassan was operating an insurgency group out of Syria.

1:15 PM ET - A late AP story says Iraqi officials have acknowledged that Syrian authorities captured al-Hassan and handed him over to Iraq as a goodwill gesture.

[JURIST] Peter Benenson [official profile], founder of the human rights group Amnesty International, died in Oxford, England on Friday after a long illness. He was 83 [Amnesty International press release]. Benenson set up Amnesty in response to a call for action in an article [abridged version] published in the British newspaper The Observer in 1961.

[JURIST] Riggs National Bank [official website] has agreed to settle a Spanish lawsuit [AP report} by paying $9 million to some 3,300 victims of the Chilean regime of General Augusto Pinochet [Wikipedia profile]. Spanish courts and the US Justice Department had investigated Riggs for allegedly laundering money for Pinochet. Riggs also paid a $25 million fine [Washington Post story] in May 2004 for failing to follow money-laundering laws and failing to report suspicious transactions, that time between Equitorial Gineau and Saudi Arabia. Riggs' continued legal woes has hurt them in their recent bid to merge with Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank. That merger is still on, but Riggs accepted an $5-per-share reduction [Finfacts story], saving PNC over $120 million over their original buyout offer.